{"id":192069,"date":"2026-04-10T11:28:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/192069\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T11:28:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:28:42","slug":"britain-celebrates-late-queen-elizabeth-ii-as-a-style-icon-to-mark-her-centenary-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/192069\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain celebrates late Queen Elizabeth II as a style icon to mark her centenary"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON \u2014 The late Queen Elizabeth II<\/a> believed the monarch had to be seen to be believed. And she made sure that was true even when Britain\u2019s famously changeable weather intervened, pioneering the use of a clear plastic raincoat so that a stodgy black umbrella didn\u2019t obscure her from public view.<\/p>\n

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That raincoat is one of some 300 garments and other fashion artifacts that go on display Friday at the King\u2019s Gallery at Buckingham Palace in an exhibit that celebrates the late queen\u2019s life and reign as Britain prepares to mark the centenary of her birth. The most comprehensive exhibition of her style choices ever mounted, the show charts Elizabeth\u2019s story, and her impact on British fashion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she had a definite sense of what suited her,\u2019\u2019 exhibition curator Caroline de Guitaut said. \u201cShe absolutely knew how she wanted to appear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TransparentTransparent raincoat, Hardy Amies, 1960s. Worn over a patterned silk day dress and coat, Hardy Amies, 1970s.Jon Stokes via Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2026 | Royal Collection Trust.<\/p>\n

Some of the items are easily recognizable since Elizabeth was one of the most photographed people ever. But the ball gowns, tweed suits and trademark headscarves are sometimes strange to see on museum mannequins instead of the queen herself.<\/p>\n

And then there are the items that are truly one-offs.<\/p>\n

Like the dress, complete with bloomers, that Elizabeth\u2019s stunt double wore during the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics, when the then-86-year-old queen appeared to parachute into the stadium alongside Daniel Craig in his James Bond persona. To complete the illusion, the queen soon emerged in the stands identically attired.<\/p>\n

Both dresses, designed by Elizabeth\u2019s longtime dressmaker Angela Kelly, are displayed side by side, though the stunt double\u2019s version has large zipper in back to accommodate the parachute.<\/p>\n

\"PrincessPrincess Elizabeth in 1934 and her Edward Molyneux bridesmaid dress.Elliott & Fry; Jon Stokes via Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2025 | Royal Collection Trust<\/p>\n

The exhibition, drawn from some 4,000 items once owned by the queen, explores how fashion became one of her most powerful tools of communication as she evolved from a young princess into Britain\u2019s longest-reigning monarch.<\/p>\n

That could often be seen in her choice of color and decorative detail, as in the green and white Norman Hartnell gown she chose to wear for the state banquet during her 1961 visit to Pakistan, honoring her hosts by donning their national colors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe queen had an intimate understanding of how fashion could lend itself to diplomacy, a trait which, while its origins certainly lay in earlier reigns, the queen developed into nothing short of an art form,\u2019\u2019 de Guitaut said. \u201cColor or embellishment communicated messages of respect to her host nation before she had even uttered a word in her speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"QueenQueen Elizabeth II in and her Norman Hartnell evening gown.Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2025 | Royal Collection Trust<\/p>\n

Particularly as she got older, Elizabeth opted to wear bright or distinctive shades during large public events so she could be easily spotted, and visitors could say they had seen the queen.<\/p>\n

The exhibit also explores the queen\u2019s off-duty wardrobe. The tweed suits she wore at Balmoral Castle, the royal family\u2019s summer retreat in Scotland, are on display alongside clothes for riding, hiking and other outdoor pursuits. There\u2019s a thick woolen coat Kelly designed during Elizabeth\u2019s later years alongside items by Burberry and British designer Hardy Amies.<\/p>\n

Clothes worn during the many milestones of the queen\u2019s long life are also on display, from her christening robe, commissioned by Queen Victoria for the baptism of the future King Edward VII, to dresses she wore for her wedding and coronation.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn evening gown by designer Norman Hartnell, which Queen Elizabeth II wore for a state banquet given for President Eisenhower at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.Paul Bulley \/ Royal
\nCollection Enterprises Limited 2025 | Royal
\nCollection Trust<\/p>\n

The exhibit also includes sketches and notes that show just how involved the queen was in designing her wardrobe.<\/p>\n

Naomi Pike, commissioning editor for Elle UK, said the collection finally recognizes Elizabeth\u2019s status as a fashion icon, even though other royals, including her younger sister, the late Princess Margaret, and her daughter-in-law, the late Princess Diana, stole the spotlight during her lifetime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re very quick in this day and age to afford people icon status. \u2026 It\u2019s thrown around so easily,\u2019\u2019 Pike said. \u201cBut I think in the case of the queen, she was an icon and so much of that comes down to having a very strong sense of personal style.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

While the gowns may be the exhibit\u2019s biggest draw, the show also provides a few surprises. With the task of showing us \u2018\u2019what the monarch wore,\u2019\u2019 the curators conjured up a somewhat battered fairy outfit made from a tutu with wings on the back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON \u2014 The late Queen Elizabeth II believed the monarch had to be seen to be believed. And…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-192069","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-queens","12":"tag-queens-headlines","13":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}